Microsoft's School of the Future Microsoft's "school of the future" makes big promises.
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Old school tales of trudging five miles through the snow to get to class may give way to accounts of glitchy laptops and faulty interactive whiteboards. A $50 million "School of the Future" backed by Microsoft Corp. opens this September in Philadelphia, and it may redesign ideas about education as thoroughly as technology has changed the workplace.
Microsoft is providing consulting and technology to the new 180,000-square-foot high school, which is being built by the School District of Philadelphia to serve 750 students. Each pupil will get a PC, and teachers will present lessons on interactive whiteboards that are connected to the internet, equipped with speakers and capable of playing DVDs.
Curriculum plans, homework and reports will be available online for parents of enrolled students, who will primarily be drawn from the local inner-city neighborhood. Philadelphia school district CEO Paul Vallas says even home-schooled students may have online access to school resources. Smartcard readers at classroom doors will record attendance, and academic and behavioral progress will also be tracked digitally.
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